Rea's Day Blog: The ‘Other' Bill Hosket

Former Ohio State basketball star and longtime announcer Bill Hosket shares a unique distinction with his father, who was also a standout player for the Buckeyes in the 1930s.

Most Ohio State basketball fans know Bill Hosket from his all-conference playing days in the late 1960s to a broadcast career that has spanned four decades and continues to this day.

But did you know that Hosket's father, known as Bill Sr., was also an All-Big Ten performer at Ohio State and that today would have been his 98th birthday?

Wilmer Clemons Hosket was born Feb. 19, 1911, in Dayton, Ohio, and became a championship basketball player at almost every level. Hosket, who eventually grew to stand just shy of 6-5, starred at Stivers High School in Dayton for head coach Floyd Stahl. Stahl would later serve eight seasons from 1951-58 as head coach at Ohio State.

With Hosket at the pivot, the Tigers won three consecutive state championships from 1928 to 1930, posting an 80-7 record during that span. Six of those losses occurred during Hosket's sophomore season. At the time he was a high school player, Hosket was considered the finest basketball prospect ever produced by the state of Ohio.